From the musical “Little Nellie Kelly”, 1922.
Words and music by George M. Cohan.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Up in the Bronx, up in the Bronx
There lives the Nell of all Nellies
Ev’ryone’s pal, ev’ryone’s gal
Ev’ryone swears she’s a saint unawares
Ev’ry Saturday night, night of delight
Ev’ryone gathers at Kelly’s
Nobody ever knows out of all of her beaux
If there’s any particular boy
Refrain
It’s the same old song
They sing, “I love you”
The boys are all mad about Nellie
The daughter of officer Kelly
And it’s all day long they bring
Flowers all dripping with dew
And they join in the chorus of
Nellie Kelly “I love you”
- Wholesome and plain, right as the rain
Nellie’s the one they’re all for
Hundreds of beaux, each fellow knows
All of the others, she treats them like brothers
The rich and the poor, each one is sure
He’s the fellow she’ll fall for
Nobody’s ever guessed and she’s never confessed
If there’s any particular boy
Sung here by Tom Venam: